My Grey Pants

It’s a shame that I can’t see you all today because today I’m wearing my grey pants.

So what’s the significance? Well, I hate my grey pants. For about 10 years, my grey pants were my ‘pants of last resort’ only worn when all other options had been exhausted.

I don’t like them because they are way bigger around the waist then all of my other pants and they’re too long. They are made out of some sort of material that makes you sweat from the moment that you put them on.

So why am I wearing them today?

I had to. I had to because I’m fat. I’ve become fat. My protruding gut requires more room in the waistline.And I feel like I have to be honest with you, my friends and family, because lately I’ve actually heard people say that I’m ‘the fittest person they know’ and that I’m ‘an inspiration’ to them. Those people must be thinking of me when I did a century — five years ago — or a marathon — eight years ago. They must think that I do those things every year.

Well, I don’t.

There are ton of factors on how I gained weight. Too many to bore you with and they all sound like excuses, but I can tell you what I’ve learned. When you are on a two-week winter holiday, don’t wear sweatpants everyday. Sweatpants hide the truth. They are ambiguously comfortable. That Monday morning when I had to go back to work … ‘hey, who shrunk every single pair of pants that I own.’

I had to reach for the grey pants.

I’m back to square one fitness wise. I’ve gained 15 pounds. My Hemoglobin A1C is up from 6.0 to 7.0.

Hopefully, I can use the Tour de Cure over the next 59 days to get back into shape, lose some weight, raise some money and burn the grey pants.